Protecting the governor, Southern Colorado style

Wednesday

DENVER - The next time Gov. Bill Ritter comes to town, take note of the sharply dressed big guy with the Secret Service-like earphone standing somewhere behind him.

You might recognize him.

That's because members of the governor's Colorado State Patrol detail include several Southern Colorado natives - three, in fact, and that doesn't even count the two other uniformed troopers who are assigned to roam the marbled halls of the Colorado Capitol.

The troopers (who are actually called agents) - Jerry Smith, Jess Leyba and John Valdez - who drive this governor and drove former Gov. Bill Owens throughout the state include two who hail from Pueblo and one from the San Luis Valley.

And while Ritter's in the Capitol, a Puebloan and a Trinidad native also are part of the total State Patrol presence under the gold dome.

"It's a lot of fun because we stay pretty busy," said Agent Jerry Smith, who's been a trooper since 1996, and a member of the governor's detachment since 2003. "Sometimes, like with this Democratic National Convention coming up, we get to meet a lot of famous people, politicians. It's not a bad gig."

A typical day starts with Smith or Leyba (who drive for two different CSP teams) picking up Ritter at the governor's mansion located about eight blocks away from the Capitol.

After reviewing the governor's schedule for the next day, which is done with help from "advance" team members such as Valdez, the two agents not only have to know how to get to where they're going and where to park, but who to watch out for in case of trouble.

Although it's not quite like the movies about Secret Service agents guarding the president - no one says, " 'Traveler' is on the move" - there are similarities, Smith said.

"If he's going to a speech in the morning, such as to a Rotary Club breakfast, the (advance) trooper goes there first to check out the area where he's supposed to talk, check out the people who are around, check out the list of guests to see if anybody's on our watch list," the 1976 Central High School graduate said.

The trooper said they must always be vigilant in knowing who's around the governor, and knowing the difference between someone who might harm him and someone who won't.

They became particularly aware of that after last summer's shooting incident, when Trooper Jay Hemphill was forced to shoot and kill a Thornton man - Aaron Synder - only a few feet outside the office that the governor was occupying in the Capitol at the time. Snyder, who had some mental-health issues, claimed to be emperor of the state.

Part of Hemphill's job is to compile that watch list.

". . . For the most part, they don't do anything; they're just very boisterous," Smith said. "But we try to keep an eye on them while watching the rest of the audience."

For security reasons, Smith won't say how many troopers are around the governor at any given time. Sometimes their presence is obvious; sometimes it isn't.

Rest assured, though, they are there.

"It depends on where the governor wants you to stand, how close he wants you to stand," Smith said. "This governor's pretty cool. We don't stand three feet away because he doesn't want people to think he's being guarded."

Occasionally, the governor can be seen walking up Denver's Colfax Avenue where the Capitol is located with a handful of his staff for lunch.

On one recent lunch break, he sat with other patrons at a nearby Mexican restaurant. At another table near the entrance sat Leyba and Valdez, eating their smothered burritos while keeping a watchful eye on the room.

"The hardest time is when we go to sporting events or big outdoor meetings where there's a lot of people who want to come up right next to him," Smith said. "When we're at the Capitol, it's less of a problem because we have the Capitol patrol guys, too.

"But since the shooting, we really haven't changed the way we do things," said Smith, who his fellow troopers often chide because he resembles actor Erik Estrada, who once played a California State Highway motorcycle trooper. "You might not see us as much, but we're around there somewhere."

Since the shooting, Capitol security has been beefed up. At the beginning of the year, state patrol will erect two metal detectors: one on the south entrance of the first floor, near the visitor's desk; the another at the north entrance of the basement, which can accommodate wheelchairs and other disabled visitors.

Leyba, a 22-year veteran of the patrol, has spent the past two years on the governor's detail.

He, too, is a Central High grad, and like Smith attended Colorado State University-Pueblo (though in those days it was still called Southern Colorado State College).

Before joining the patrol, Leyba earned a certificate as a psychiatric technician, and later worked at the Colorado State Hospital, now the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo.

"People probably thought I should have been in the state hospital," joked Leyba, whose parents and brother still live in Pueblo, with a sister in California. "I try to make it down to Pueblo about once a month to see the family."

When Leyba's guarding the governor, he partners with Valdez, who hails from Del Norte.

Other Southern Colorado natives at the Capitol include Cpl. Larry Naverette of Trinidad, and Technician Mike Garcia, who also graduated from Central and attended SCSC.

After 30 years on the patrol, Garcia plans to retire next year.

More than any other agent or trooper, Garcia has become an icon in the Capitol, having spent half of his patrol career there.

In fact, he knows the place so well, he's considered an honorary tour guide.

Garcia hopes to return to Pueblo within five years, and maybe get a part-time job in the region as a park ranger or on an area golf course.

He has a daughter who works for Pueblo City Schools.

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